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Entries for 2012

With 2012 drawing to completion our benefits and payroll teams are hard at work preparing for the upcoming benefit year. 2013 will have 53 payroll cycles, and this makes it an odd year because our benefit deductions are taken over a 52-week period.
Because of this oddity everyone will in effect have a "Deduction Holiday" - one pay check (dated 1/4/2013) where there will be no regularly scheduled benefit deductions taken other than those for 401k elections. This will affect all insurance benefits and the Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).
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By this time you should have received information in the mail outlining the exciting wellness initiatives FirstFleet is making available in 2013. This blog entry builds upon the previous posting (found here), and it is our hope that these mailers and electronic forms of communication are helpful for you as you consider these new options to encourage and promote health.
This second form of communication brings new information and greater detail to the plan options. I encourage you to read through the document found here and if you have questions or concerns please fee...

The holiday season is a time to gather with family and friends to reflect upon the blessings in our lives. If I were to pause and ask each of you for one thing you were thankful for I am certain we could fill this page with thoughts of children, grandchildren, health, friends, freedom and countless other examples of things you hold dear.
As a company we are grateful this Christmas for our business partners and the dedicated team of hard-working individuals that support this organization. We are blessed to be in longstanding business relationships ...

If you’ve been watching the news lately, you know that there is a lot going on in the world of health care and health insurance. As we are all aware, the costs of health care have risen steadily over the last several years. Last year, the cost of FirstFleet’s medical plan exceeded $10 million. Over and above the weekly deduction from your paycheck, the Company contributes on average over $8,000 annually for each family covered by the plan.
In an effort to control costs long-term and provide access to health care for all Americans, the Federal gover...

FirstFleet Drivers: Thank you for doing a great job as we are implementing electronic logs and electronic DVIRs. It has been a learning process for all of us, and we appreciate all of your efforts as we work out any kinks.
Maintenance has brought one item to our attention regarding electronic DVIRs which we need to address. It is EXTREMELY important for us to correctly specify whether or not a DVIR is SAFETY related. The easiest way to answer this question is to ask yourself, “Does this defect present a safety risk if left unaddressed?”
I...

Making turns in a tractor trailer is something that needs perfecting through practice and patience.
Practice comes from doing it…the daily honing of critical skills necessary for the job.
Patience comes from the knowledge that you are capable of handling any situation the road throws at you, in a professional and courteous manner, because you have fine-tuned those critical skills needed to drive a tractor trailer safely.
In this video we will touch on different issues of making a turn with information that...

NEWS
Today marks an important day for our company – we are happy to announce that we have passed the half-way point with the implementation of electronic hours of service. There is no doubt you have in one way or another been exposed to this project already and there is a great chance that you are already online and using this new service. As of this update we have 680 tractors operating with E-Logs and are scheduled to complete the implementation for all tractors equipped with Qualcomm units by the end of March 2013
We have greatly appreciated the pati...

We know that this season is a particularly busy time for professionals employed in our industry, and we are grateful for your service and hard work to meet the needs of our business partners with excellence. We hope that whenever or wherever you enjoy this holiday that you are able to be near friends and family.
We at FirstFleet join with you in giving thanks for the wonderful blessings of freedom that this nation affords us the opportunity to enjoy.
Thank you and be safe!

Deer strikes are up over 8% in the past twelve months!
November is the peak month for deer strikes. There is an estimated 20 million animals in deer herds currently. To help avoid a dangerous an costly situation please consider these tips:
Take note of deer crossing areas, and slow down
Expect more than one animal to cross the road
Use your high beam headlights when possible
Understand dawn and dusk are peak times for deer movement ...

We would like to extend a special thanks to all of the Veterans and their families on this Veterans Day. With the sacrifices made by both the present and past Veterans and their families our country is a safer place to live.
We must never take for granted the freedom we enjoy in this country.
Thank you Veterans.

As communicated via blog earlier this week and via email to all managers a few weeks ago, the quarterly safety bonus payments to our drivers changed to a direct deposit process this week and are included in the drivers' pay today. There has been some concern raised over the tax effect of including this in with the regular paycheck/direct deposit vs. the tax effect when we were issuing the bonus checks separately. Per IRS Publication 15 on bonus payments, any type of bonus payment, which would of course include safety bonus checks, must either be taxed a flat 25% or, alternatively, must be incl...

As delivery drivers, backing is something we must do every day.
Almost all backing accidents are preventable!
GOAL…Get Out And Look, is the best way to prevent a backing accident.
In this video we talk about different job duties drivers fail to do that will result in a backing accident.
To watch this video and more have a look at our YouTube channel or the Employee Video library found here on our website (login required).
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A large part of Fatigue is Drowsiness, which is the last step before falling asleep…not the first. Drowsiness means you are seconds away from falling asleep; you must put forth a conscious effort to remain focused and stay awake. At one moment you are aware of the fatigue and in a split second you are sound asleep, completely unaware of what your vehicle is doing. This is an incredibly dangerous situation! Fatigue can be responsible for all different kinds of accidents…from hitting a yellow pole in a parking lot to a rollover accident due to ...

As another step in the Payroll process of going paperless and to make it more convenient for our drivers to access their bonus pay, we will be converting the quarterly safety bonus payments to direct deposit effective with the third quarter bonuses. If you qualified for a safety bonus for the third quarter, your bonus payment will be included with your regular pay on the November 9th pay date.
We appreciate all our drivers’ efforts to operate in a safe manner on the road, at our terminals, and at our customer locations.
If you have an...

We are excited to announce the implementation of electronic logs for FirstFleet. You may hear QHOS (Qualcomm Hours of Service) is coming to your fleet. The CSA program is a government program that is designed to level the playing field by providing good visibility into a carrier’s safety performance – in relation to their peers. This program provides clear access into what was once lost in the details of a safe stat score.
FirstFleet wants to be a leader in our industry and is deployi...